Class Description- This is a 9th grade English class with 50 minute periods. There are 26 students in the class. There are 15 males and 11 females. The students are fairly diverse, reflecting African American, Hispanic, Native American, and Caucasian backgrounds. Three students have an IEP and are fully included into their curriculum. Desks are arranged to support cooperative learning activities and to facilitate group instruction/ discussion. Students work best with multiple means of instruction: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and group activities. I strive to utilize Gardner’s multiple intelligences into my lesson planning.
Unit Title
Social Injustice and Discrimination in Literature
Lesson Topic
Defining Discrimination
Type of Lesson
Initiatory
Core Learning Goal/Curriculum Standard 2.1.3 NCTE 5
Lesson Objective(s): Objective 1 – SWBAT reflect on discrimination in their own personal experiences during a free writing exercise in order to raise discrimination awareness.
Objective 2 – SWBAT reflect on characters’ interactions in a video, as well as their personal experiences on an exit ticket in order to define discrimination.
Assessment(s): Assessment for Objective 1 –Free Write
Is this a formative or summative assessment?
Formative Would you characterize this assessment as a traditional or performance assessment?
Performance Why did you select this assessment strategy to measure student learning?
This free writing exercise will be used for students to start developing successful writing skills before writing their final paper in the unit. The free write gives students the opportunity to develop their thoughts and feelings about the unit topic with little restrictions on their format and structure. Therefore, this assessment is obviously a formal assessment to assist students in their overall comprehension of the course material.
Assessment of Objective 2 – Exit Ticket
Is this a formative or summative assessment?
Formative Would you characterize this assessment as a traditional or performance assessment?
Traditional Why did you select this assessment strategy to measure student learning?
This assessment measures individual student understanding of cultural discrimination and diversity. This also allows students to freely express their thoughts and opinions on not only the information from the text, but also their real life experiences in written form. This allows students to practice their problem solving skills and decision making skills when faced with discrimination. It allows students to think about a real life problem and the different ways they could solve them.
Materials Needed for Lesson
Computer
PowerPoint (with instructions)
“Freaks and Geeks” DVD
Reflection Sheet
Timer
Discrimination Mind Map
Inspiration
Daily Journals
White Boards with markers
Discrimination pictures
Lesson Development
Teacher Unit Introduction- (Students will be given a cognitive map at the end of the period that outlines the activities and schedules we will complete by the end of the unit.) “On your white boards (under the desks), I want all of you to draw one example of what discrimination looks like. You can draw people, places, objects, etc.” After students draw their pictures and quickly flash them around the class, I will show students my pictures on the PowerPoint. Students will see pictures of discrimination from historical events to modern times. Some images may be graphic for students; however, students will be locked into the logic behind me sharing these images with the class for the new unit. “Today we are starting our new unit on ‘Social Injustice and Discrimination in Literature.’ Throughout this unit, we’ll be reading and watching a variety of perspectives from different cultural groups. By the end of the unit, we’ll be able to define a variety of discriminations throughout our society, and determine ways to prevent and resolve negative effects of these actions. But before we start today, I’d like to show all of you a video clip. The video is only twenty seconds long, but I’d like you to think about the relationships and actions of the characters.” Drill/Motivational Activity- I will hit play on the “Freaks and Geeks” video on the computer. The video will play for approximately twenty seconds. Transition-“Now that we’ve seen the video, I want us to take a minute to think about what we’ve seen. Each of you need to take one reflection sheet, which is in the middle of your group table.” Activity 1 – I play the video once more, instructing students to pay careful attention to the characters’ interactions and to fill out the questions listed on their reflection sheet. Students are also instructed to complete the questions independently (there are two different versions of the handout). Key Questions What is Discrimination? How does it feel when someone makes fun of you? Transition-“Now that we’ve developed some thoughts about this video clip, let’s use this example to help us define what discrimination is and how it directly affects our communities.”
Students
Students will quickly draw their images.
Students carefully watch the video.
Students carefully watch the video once more to answer their questions on their reflection sheet.
Time
3 minutes
20 seconds
6 minutes
Teacher (cont’d)
Activity 2 –The second activity will be a discussion based on discrimination. On the chalk board, I will largely write the word “discrimination.” “For those of you who answered the question: Why do you think the other boys were picking on this student?, share some of your responses with the class.” I will facilitate discussion between students before asking students to share about their responses to the other question: “How do you think the boy who has the disability felt?” I will facilitate discussion, eventually asking the question: “You guys and girls have a great understanding of the characters’ interactions in the video. With that being said, let’s use your responses to draft a definition of discrimination. As a class, we will draft a mind map that stems from the word “discrimination.” (I will eventually type the map on inspiration for students’ to use throughout the unit.) Key Questions What is discrimination? What type of discrimination is portrayed in the video? Transition-“Now that we have a firm definition of discrimination, let’s ponder personal experiences that you may have had with discrimination. For this activity, I’ll need all of you to please take out your daily journal.”
Activity 3 – In this activity, students will participate in a free write activity, tying their definition of discrimination into their own personal experiences. Students can reference to their own experiences, others’ experiences, or even examples of discrimination they’ve seen on T.V. However, they must at least provide one example of discrimination (who was involved, what happened). They must also describe their feelings of the experience, or their reactions. The exact instructions will be posted on the board.
Key Questions What is Discrimination?
Have you ever felt discriminated?
How did you feel when you were discriminated against?
Summary/Closure/Revisit Objective: The close the lesson, I will have students write an exit ticket, assessing their understanding of the material presented in the lesson. Students will answer questions related to the video and to discrimination, in their own words.
Safety Valve
In case students aren’t motivated or able to comprehend the DVD, I’ve also prepared another video clip on discrimination that is much longer. Following the video, we could have an open discussion about how we felt while watching the video-what feelings and emotions stirred throughout our hearts/minds. This will also give students the opportunity to share their personal experiences on begin discriminated against. To end the class, we could have a shorter writing assignment that is based specifically on the video’s content.
Students (cont’d)
Students will actively participate in the discussion, especially after being engaged with the video.
Students will independently brainstorm personal experiences with discrimination and write about their feelings.
Students will quickly summarize today’s findings.
Time (cont’d)
15 minutes
20 minutes
5 minutes
Differentiation- To begin the class, all of the objectives are posted on the board so the students and the teacher know their expectations on the lesson. All of the instructions for activities are also posted on the board (or PowerPoint). On physical handouts for activities, students are given a clear format to follow, as well as the instructions posted on the top of the paper. To motivate students, I’ve used an age-relevant video that easily depicts discrimination, although it is out of context. Playing the video twice gives students another chance to focus and question the material presented. It’s also a great strategy for students who may have ADD or ADHD-having difficulty staying focused. The discussion assists students in expressing their thoughts and ideas with the class. This activity is great for students who have difficulty expressing their thoughts on paper. However, I also created a free-write activity. This activity is great for students who have difficulty sharing their thoughts verbally with others. Therefore, the lesson is designed as a win-win situation. Both activities give students different multiple means of expression, with the opportunity to share personal experiences.
Reflection on assessment – To ensure that students master their content and apply the knowledge to authentic settings, I will adjust my teaching of the aforementioned lesson plan. Instead of using the video clip, I’ve considered reading one or two passages from a current young-adult literature book that would appeal to students’ age group. I’ve also considered showing a 10-minute movie clip from various movies that portray cultural discrimination (Men of Honor, Dances with Wolves, etc.). Either way, I would find information that will help students to better understand the unit’s theme. Instead of doing a variety of discussion based activities, I considered collaborative group activities and stricter assessments. The collaborative grouping would give students the opportunity to openly express their thoughts in a smaller, more comfortable atmosphere. In these groups students would be able to share more personal stories about discrimination; some students may feel embarrassed or shy in sharing such daunting experiences. This will help to generalize the content with authentic situations. For assessments, I would choose something more in depth, helping students stretch their imagination on the causes of discrimination. In this activity, I could have students write a story or poem, through the perspective of someone who has been discriminated against. Regardless of my selection, trial and error is a necessity in education.
Lesson Plan 1
Social Injustice and Discrimination in Literature
Defining Discrimination
Initiatory
2.1.3
NCTE 5
Objective 1 – SWBAT reflect on discrimination in their own personal experiences during a free writing exercise in order to raise discrimination awareness.
Objective 2 – SWBAT reflect on characters’ interactions in a video, as well as their personal experiences on an exit ticket in order to define discrimination.
Assessment for Objective 1 –Free Write
Is this a formative or summative assessment?
Formative
Would you characterize this assessment as a traditional or performance assessment?
Performance
Why did you select this assessment strategy to measure student learning?
This free writing exercise will be used for students to start developing successful writing skills before writing their final paper in the unit. The free write gives students the opportunity to develop their thoughts and feelings about the unit topic with little restrictions on their format and structure. Therefore, this assessment is obviously a formal assessment to assist students in their overall comprehension of the course material.
Is this a formative or summative assessment?
Formative
Would you characterize this assessment as a traditional or performance assessment?
Traditional
Why did you select this assessment strategy to measure student learning?
This assessment measures individual student understanding of cultural discrimination and diversity. This also allows students to freely express their thoughts and opinions on not only the information from the text, but also their real life experiences in written form. This allows students to practice their problem solving skills and decision making skills when faced with discrimination. It allows students to think about a real life problem and the different ways they could solve them.
Computer
PowerPoint (with instructions)
“Freaks and Geeks” DVD
Reflection Sheet
Timer
Discrimination Mind Map
Inspiration
Daily Journals
White Boards with markers
Discrimination pictures
Unit Introduction-
(Students will be given a cognitive map at the end of the period that outlines the activities and schedules we will complete by the end of the unit.)
“On your white boards (under the desks), I want all of you to draw one example of what discrimination looks like. You can draw people, places, objects, etc.” After students draw their pictures and quickly flash them around the class, I will show students my pictures on the PowerPoint. Students will see pictures of discrimination from historical events to modern times. Some images may be graphic for students; however, students will be locked into the logic behind me sharing these images with the class for the new unit.
“Today we are starting our new unit on ‘Social Injustice and Discrimination in Literature.’ Throughout this unit, we’ll be reading and watching a variety of perspectives from different cultural groups. By the end of the unit, we’ll be able to define a variety of discriminations throughout our society, and determine ways to prevent and resolve negative effects of these actions. But before we start today, I’d like to show all of you a video clip. The video is only twenty seconds long, but I’d like you to think about the relationships and actions of the characters.”
Drill/Motivational Activity- I will hit play on the “Freaks and Geeks” video on the computer. The video will play for approximately twenty seconds.
Transition-“Now that we’ve seen the video, I want us to take a minute to think about what we’ve seen. Each of you need to take one reflection sheet, which is in the middle of your group table.”
Activity 1 – I play the video once more, instructing students to pay careful attention to the characters’ interactions and to fill out the questions listed on their reflection sheet. Students are also instructed to complete the questions independently (there are two different versions of the handout).
Key Questions
What is Discrimination?
How does it feel when someone makes fun of you?
Transition-“Now that we’ve developed some thoughts about this video clip, let’s use this example to help us define what discrimination is and how it directly affects our communities.”
Students will quickly draw their images.
Students carefully watch the video.
Students carefully watch the video once more to answer their questions on their reflection sheet.
3 minutes
20 seconds
6 minutes
Activity 2 – The second activity will be a discussion based on discrimination. On the chalk board, I will largely write the word “discrimination.” “For those of you who answered the question: Why do you think the other boys were picking on this student?, share some of your responses with the class.” I will facilitate discussion between students before asking students to share about their responses to the other question: “How do you think the boy who has the disability felt?” I will facilitate discussion, eventually asking the question: “You guys and girls have a great understanding of the characters’ interactions in the video. With that being said, let’s use your responses to draft a definition of discrimination. As a class, we will draft a mind map that stems from the word “discrimination.” (I will eventually type the map on inspiration for students’ to use throughout the unit.)
Key Questions
What is discrimination?
What type of discrimination is portrayed in the video?
Transition-“Now that we have a firm definition of discrimination, let’s ponder personal experiences that you may have had with discrimination. For this activity, I’ll need all of you to please take out your daily journal.”
Activity 3 – In this activity, students will participate in a free write activity, tying their definition of discrimination into their own personal experiences. Students can reference to their own experiences, others’ experiences, or even examples of discrimination they’ve seen on T.V. However, they must at least provide one example of discrimination (who was involved, what happened). They must also describe their feelings of the experience, or their reactions. The exact instructions will be posted on the board.
Key Questions
What is Discrimination?
Have you ever felt discriminated?
How did you feel when you were discriminated against?
Summary/Closure/Revisit
Objective: The close the lesson, I will have students write an exit ticket, assessing their understanding of the material presented in the lesson. Students will answer questions related to the video and to discrimination, in their own words.
Safety Valve
In case students aren’t motivated or able to comprehend the DVD, I’ve also prepared another video clip on discrimination that is much longer. Following the video, we could have an open discussion about how we felt while watching the video-what feelings and emotions stirred throughout our hearts/minds. This will also give students the opportunity to share their personal experiences on begin discriminated against. To end the class, we could have a shorter writing assignment that is based specifically on the video’s content.
Students will actively participate in the discussion, especially after being engaged with the video.
Students will independently brainstorm personal experiences with discrimination and write about their feelings.
Students will quickly summarize today’s findings.
15 minutes
20 minutes
5 minutes
To begin the class, all of the objectives are posted on the board so the students and the teacher know their expectations on the lesson. All of the instructions for activities are also posted on the board (or PowerPoint). On physical handouts for activities, students are given a clear format to follow, as well as the instructions posted on the top of the paper.
To motivate students, I’ve used an age-relevant video that easily depicts discrimination, although it is out of context. Playing the video twice gives students another chance to focus and question the material presented. It’s also a great strategy for students who may have ADD or ADHD-having difficulty staying focused. The discussion assists students in expressing their thoughts and ideas with the class. This activity is great for students who have difficulty expressing their thoughts on paper. However, I also created a free-write activity. This activity is great for students who have difficulty sharing their thoughts verbally with others. Therefore, the lesson is designed as a win-win situation. Both activities give students different multiple means of expression, with the opportunity to share personal experiences.
Reflection on assessment –
To ensure that students master their content and apply the knowledge to authentic settings, I will adjust my teaching of the aforementioned lesson plan. Instead of using the video clip, I’ve considered reading one or two passages from a current young-adult literature book that would appeal to students’ age group. I’ve also considered showing a 10-minute movie clip from various movies that portray cultural discrimination (Men of Honor, Dances with Wolves, etc.). Either way, I would find information that will help students to better understand the unit’s theme. Instead of doing a variety of discussion based activities, I considered collaborative group activities and stricter assessments. The collaborative grouping would give students the opportunity to openly express their thoughts in a smaller, more comfortable atmosphere. In these groups students would be able to share more personal stories about discrimination; some students may feel embarrassed or shy in sharing such daunting experiences. This will help to generalize the content with authentic situations. For assessments, I would choose something more in depth, helping students stretch their imagination on the causes of discrimination. In this activity, I could have students write a story or poem, through the perspective of someone who has been discriminated against. Regardless of my selection, trial and error is a necessity in education.